Open letter to BlackBerry bosses: Senior RIM exec tells all as company crumbles around him

There’s no question Research In Motion is in the midst of a major transitional period. The company is planning to launch a brand new product line based on a brand new operating system within the next 12 months, and even though the first device born out of RIM’s new QNX OS was impressive in some ways, it was incomplete. There still is a chance for RIM to deliver some really interesting competitive products, but time is quickly running out, as we have written time and time again. The thing is, RIM has always been a company controlled by two people — Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. For all the things that have worked, they have missed the boat countless times and we’re now seeing the results.

We have received an open letter to Mike and Jim from a high-level RIM employee (whose identity we have verified), and in an amazingly honest and passionate plea, this letter gives fascinating insights into what RIM must fix, and fast. RIM did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the open letter in its entirety after the break.

P.S. If you’re an employee of RIM and want to send us your thoughts and feelings on the company, you can send them to us via email or leave a comment below.

UPDATE: Following this post, RIM issued an official response to the letter below. The company’s full response can be viewed here.

UPDATE 2: BGR has exclusively published two additional letters from RIM employees. They can both be viewed here.

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To the RIM Senior Management Team:

I have lost confidence.

While I hide it at work, my passion has been sapped. I know I am not alone — the sentiment is widespread and it includes people within your own teams.

Mike and Jim, please take the time to really absorb and digest the content of this letter because it reflects the feeling across a huge percentage of your employee base. You have many smart employees, many that have great ideas for the future, but unfortunately the culture at RIM does not allow us to speak openly without having to worry about the career-limiting effects.

Before I get into the meat of the matter, I will say I am not part of a large group of bitter employees wishing to embarrass us. Rather, I believe these points need to be heard and I desperately want RIM to regain its position as a successful industry leader. Our carriers, distributors, alliance partners, enterprise customers, and our loyal end users all want the same thing… for BlackBerry to once again be leading the pack.

We are in the middle of major “transition” and things have never been more chaotic. Almost every project is falling further and further behind schedule at a time when we absolutely must deliver great, solid products on time. We urge you to make bold decisions about our organisational structure, about our culture and most importantly our products.

While we anxiously wait to see the details of the streamlining plan, here are some suggestions:

1) Focus on the End User experience

Let’s obsess about what is best for the end user. We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice — the end user doesn’t care. We simply have to admit that Apple is nailing this and it is one of the reasons they have people lining up overnight at stores around the world, and products sold out for months. These people aren’t hypnotized zombies, they simply love beautifully designed products that are user centric and work how they are supposed to work. Android has a major weakness — it will always lack the simplicity and elegance that comes with end-to-end device software, middleware and hardware control. We really have a great opportunity to build something new and “uniquely BlackBerry” with the QNX platform.

Let’s start an internal innovation revival with teams focused on what users will love instead of chasing “feature parity” and feature differentiation for no good reason (Adobe Flash being a major example). When was the last time we pushed out a significant new experience or feature that wasn’t already on other platforms?

Rather than constantly mocking iPhone and Android, we should encourage key decision makers across the board to use these products as their primary device for a week or so at a time — yes, on Exchange! This way we can understand why our users are switching and get inspiration as to how we can build our next-gen products even better! It’s incomprehensible that our top software engineers and executives aren’t using or deeply familiar with our competitor’s products.

2) Recruit Senior SW Leaders & enable decision-making

I’m going to say what everyone is thinking… We need some heavy hitters at RIM when it comes to software management. Teams still aren’t talking together properly, no one is making or can make critical decisions, all the while everyone is working crazy hours and still far behind. We are demotivated. Just look at who our major competitors are: Apple, Google & Microsoft. These are three of the biggest and most talented software companies on the planet. Then take a look at our software leadership teams in terms of what they have delivered and their past experience prior to RIM… It says everything.

3) Cut projects to the bone.

There is a serious need to consolidate our focus to just a handful of projects. Period.

We need to be disciplined here. We can’t afford any more initiatives based on carrier requests to squeeze out slightly more volume. Again, back to point #1, focus on the end users. They are the ones making both consumer & enterprise purchase decisions.

Strategy is often in the things you decide not to do.

On that note, we simply must stop shipping incomplete products that aren’t ready for the end user. It is hurting our brand tremendously. It takes guts to not allow a product to launch that may be 90% ready with a quarter end in sight, but it will pay off in the long term.

Look at Apple in 1997 for tips here. I really want you to watch this video because it has never been more relevant. It is our friend Steve Jobs in 97 and it may as well be you speaking to RIM employees and partners today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LEXae1j6EY

4) Developers, not Carriers can now make or break us

We urgently need to invest like we never have before in becoming developer friendly. The return will be worth every cent. There is no polite way to say this, but it’s true — BlackBerry smartphone apps suck. Even PlayBook, with all its glorious power, looks like a Fisher Price toy with its Adobe AIR/Flash apps.

Developing for BlackBerry is painful, and despite what you’ve been told, things haven’t really changed that much since Jamie Murai’s letter. Our SDK / development platform is like a rundown 1990’s Ford Explorer. Then there’s Apple, which has a shiny new BMW M3… just such a pleasure to drive. Developers want and need quality tools.

If we create great tools, we will see great work. Offer shit tools and we shouldn’t be surprised when we see shit apps.

The truth is, no one in RIM dares to tell management how bad our tools still are. Even our closest dev partners do their best to say it politely, but they will never bite the hand that feeds them. The solution? Recruit serious talent, buy SDK/API specialist companies, throw a truckload of money at it… Let’s do whatever it takes, and quickly!

5) Need for serious marketing punch to create end user desire

25 million iPad users don’t care that it doesn’t have Flash or true multitasking, so why make that a focus in our campaigns? I’ll answer that for you: it’s because that’s all that differentiates our products and its lazy marketing. I’ve never seen someone buy product B because it has something product A doesn’t have. People buy product B because they want and lust after product B.

Also an important note regarding our marketing: a product’s technical superiority does not equal desire, and therefore sales… How many Linux laptops are getting sold? How did Betamax go? My mother wants an iPad and iPhone because it is simple and appeals to her. Powerful multitasking doesn’t.

BlackBerry Messenger has been our standout, yet we wasted our marketing on strange stories from a barber shop to a horse wrangler. I promise you, this did nothing to help us in the mind of the average consumer.

We need an inventive and engaging campaign that focuses on what we are about. People buy into a brand / product not just because of features, but because of what it stands for and what it delivers to them. People don’t buy “what you do,” people buy “why you do it.” Take 3 minutes to watch the this video starting from the 2min mark: http://youtu.be/qp0HIF3SfI4

6) No Accountability – Canadians are too nice

RIM has a lot of people who underperform but still stay in their roles. No one is accountable. Where is the guy responsible for the 9530 software? Still with us, still running some important software initiative. We will never achieve excellence with this culture. Just because someone may have been a loyal RIM employee for 7 years, it doesn’t mean they are the best Manager / Director / VP for that role. It’s time to change the culture to deliver or move on and get out. We have far too many people in critical roles that fit this description. I can hear the cheers of my fellow employees now.

7) The press and analysts are pissing you off. Don’t snap. Now is the time for humility with a dash of paranoia.

The public’s questions about dual-CEOs are warranted. The partnership is not broken, but on the ground level, it is not efficient. Maybe we need our Eric Schmidt reign period.

Yes, four years ago we beat Microsoft when everyone said Windows Mobile with Direct Push in Exchange would kill us. It didn’t… in fact we grew stronger.

However, overconfidence clouds good decision-making. We missed not boldly reacting to the threat of iPhone when we saw it in January over four years ago. We laughed and said they are trying to put a computer on a phone, that it won’t work. We should have made the QNX-like transition then. We are now 3-4 years too late. That is the painful truth… it was a major strategic oversight and we know who is responsible.

Jim, in referring to our current transition recently said: “No other technology company other than Apple has successfully transitioned their platform. It’s almost never done, and it’s way harder than you realize. This transition is where tech companies go to die.”

To avoid this death, perhaps it is time to seriously consider a new, fresh thinking, experienced CEO. There is no shame in no longer being a CEO. Mike, you could focus on innovation. Jim, you could focus on our carriers/customers… They are our lifeblood.

8) Democratise. Engage and interact with your employees — please!

Reach out to all employees asking them on how we can make RIM better. Encourage input from ground-level teams—without repercussions—to seek out honest feedback and really absorb it.

Lastly, we’re all reading the news and many are extremely nervous, especially when we see people get fired. We need an injection of confidence: share your strategy and ask us for support. The headhunters have already started circling and we are at risk of losing our best people.

Now would be a great time to internally re-brand and re-energize the workplace. For example, rename the company to just “BlackBerry” to signify our new focus on one QNX product line. We should also address issues surrounding making RIM an enjoyable workplace. Some of our offices feel like Soviet-era government workplaces.

The timing is perfect to seriously evaluate at our position and make these major changes. We can do it!

RIM is not the only canadian company with all the listed issue. unfortunately two other Canadian companies rogers and bell have exact same problem. I have worked on both companies and later left to US M$. There is huge difference in terms of accountability and creativity in teams. These two companies are still in bussiness due to little competition from other providers but are feeling heat same as rim now that there are new competitors.

Mail

As much as I hate to say this – with sad resignation really – I’ve cut the BlackBerry from my list of possible purchases and have actually added the iphone to the short list.

Mail

As much as I hate to say this – with sad resignation really – I’ve cut the BlackBerry from my list of possible purchases and have actually added the iphone to the short list.

John Davenport

I have created industrial and process control software. I have software and industrial data services that should be ported to BB. I signed up with BB, downloaded the development stuff. What a mess! I spent a few hours looking at it and realized that it wasn’t going to happen. I could learn it, but I didn’t see much hope of easily making a good looking, intuitive interface with graphs, charts and complex data. And PlayBook would be such a natural for what I do! BB has to listen to the person who wrote that letter. RIM’s day has come and gone. My advice, among other things, go acquire OSIsoft or something like it and get a grip on industrial services. It matches the expertise of QNX. Better do something pretty soon. Don’t do what Nokia did by bringing in a new guy who enshrines failure! Keep the current top but listen to the employees.

PfromD

They succeeded by providing what we needed then and will die by not providing what we need now.

Alovelymind

I nominate the guy behind this letter for the CEO post at RIM. ;-)

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LYZ226WBJ46YQBFTZVILHJVOSY Good Glen

They can’t even decide on a CEO. Obviously we won’t see any bold, game-changing decisions from RIM.

http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/QNT75I4YMVZFJOCNOKY5GVIFKQ Enzo

Too little, too late. RIM is finished. The OS sucks and there’s no real ecosystem. Apple has eaten RIM’s lunch and Android is eating the desert.

Aziz Peregrino-Brimah

RIM is the new MySpace.

IPW

The new Palm

sean

I was a Blackberry customer for almost ten years, and last month I switched to the iPhone. I loved my blackberry and wanted to stay, but the author of this letter hits the nail on the head when he calls for more focus on the user experience. The lack of meaningful apps for the BB are a serious drawback, and all of the things that the BB could do long before anyone else — well, those are standard features now.

It’s all about apps now — just as the PC marketplace was all about software in 1994. People will choose a platform because of what programs they can use, and BB is rapidly becoming OS/2.

http://profiles.google.com/eheffa Evan Effa

A spot on assessment. RIM doesn’t appear to be listening. I hate to say it but I think that they will go under.

An ‘End-user’ report:

I was a Palm device user for many years, keeping my professional and personal life organized with little calendar apps like Agendus and HanDBase. My Palm Treo was not too good with email & net access so I thought that when it was time to upgrade that the state of the art BB 9700 would be a significant improvement.

What a surprise! My new phone was a great phone, good at email and great battery life but it couldn’t run the most basic app’s without choking. My HanDBase databases would stall and run so slowly I couldn’t keep more than a few months worth of data on the device without it going into glacier speed. My BB versions of my calendar apps were now useless. In correspondence with the software developers, they were quite frank in stating that the BB software limited their capabilities and that things would not likely improve for the foreseeable future.

Attempts to fix bugs in memory leaks required downloading unofficial patches & writing codeline fixes to staunch the bleeding. It was like going from Mac OSX to a DOS PC all over again.

If you want email and a phone, BB is fine but if you want a device that allows for some serious handheld computing power, the older Palm devices blew it away.

In the end, I switched to an iPhone. It’s not perfect but it does what I need it to do reliably and with finesse.

I will not be going back to RIM anytime soon. I’m sure my experience is not unique. RIM needs to pay attention to what makes Apple the success that it is and change their software philosophy to accommodate the users’ needs.

-evan

Storm Chaser

BGR,

I worked for many years on the RIM Marketing Team from the launch of the Pearl (1st BlackBerry with a camera) to the disappointing launch of the BlackBerry Storm. I remember Pre-Pearl the Co CEO’s stating that BlackBerry will NEVER have a camera and finally pressure from our group and customers we were able to launch the Pearl. I rode the wave of success through the Curve models but always voiced my opinion in meetings that “we can not continue to put out the same design and fall into the trap that PALM did”. I watched in horror as each new model looked just like the next and even more worrisome was the fact RIM was using inferior material which caused a lot of returns and the software team was being rushed to put out updates to devices that launched with many glitches. I remember when the IPHONE launched and it made a huge impact after the first 6 months to the point we were not even aloud to bring the IPHONE up in meetings anymore. We had to stay positive to a fault and not bring up anything that we saw as a potential risk. I remember when the Storm was about to launch and I was issued a device 3 months before launch date. That is when I knew RIM was sunk. The device was rushed to market with software bugs, poor quality material, poorly put together, that damn clicking screen and this was RIM’s answer to the IPHONE. Did you know that about a year before APPLE launched the IPHONE, that APPLE had a secret meeting with RIM to discuss the use of RIM’s email platform but RIM pushed APPLE out the door. Two years ago we begged all RIM groups to abandon any new software and hook up with GOOGLE and adopt and Android O/S but again we were told that RIM would never use the Android software and RIM would stand alone and WIN (hahahahah). It is not the employees fault at all, we brought up all the issues many years ago but management would never bring them to the Co-CEO’s. The Co-Ceo’s are despised by 99% of the RIM employees for not listening to years of information and market research and instead focusing on hockey teams and pretending that shipping millions of cheap devices with zero innovation was the way to go. Sorry if this rambles and is hard to follow but I am shaking as I write this remembering how good it used to be and watching it all crumble away.

Storm Chaser

BGR,

I worked for many years on the RIM Marketing Team from the launch of the Pearl (1st BlackBerry with a camera) to the disappointing launch of the BlackBerry Storm. I remember Pre-Pearl the Co CEO’s stating that BlackBerry will NEVER have a camera and finally pressure from our group and customers we were able to launch the Pearl. I rode the wave of success through the Curve models but always voiced my opinion in meetings that “we can not continue to put out the same design and fall into the trap that PALM did”. I watched in horror as each new model looked just like the next and even more worrisome was the fact RIM was using inferior material which caused a lot of returns and the software team was being rushed to put out updates to devices that launched with many glitches. I remember when the IPHONE launched and it made a huge impact after the first 6 months to the point we were not even aloud to bring the IPHONE up in meetings anymore. We had to stay positive to a fault and not bring up anything that we saw as a potential risk. I remember when the Storm was about to launch and I was issued a device 3 months before launch date. That is when I knew RIM was sunk. The device was rushed to market with software bugs, poor quality material, poorly put together, that damn clicking screen and this was RIM’s answer to the IPHONE. Did you know that about a year before APPLE launched the IPHONE, that APPLE had a secret meeting with RIM to discuss the use of RIM’s email platform but RIM pushed APPLE out the door. Two years ago we begged all RIM groups to abandon any new software and hook up with GOOGLE and adopt and Android O/S but again we were told that RIM would never use the Android software and RIM would stand alone and WIN (hahahahah). It is not the employees fault at all, we brought up all the issues many years ago but management would never bring them to the Co-CEO’s. The Co-Ceo’s are despised by 99% of the RIM employees for not listening to years of information and market research and instead focusing on hockey teams and pretending that shipping millions of cheap devices with zero innovation was the way to go. Sorry if this rambles and is hard to follow but I am shaking as I write this remembering how good it used to be and watching it all crumble away.

Storm Chaser

BGR,

I worked for many years on the RIM Marketing Team from the launch of the Pearl (1st BlackBerry with a camera) to the disappointing launch of the BlackBerry Storm. I remember Pre-Pearl the Co CEO’s stating that BlackBerry will NEVER have a camera and finally pressure from our group and customers we were able to launch the Pearl. I rode the wave of success through the Curve models but always voiced my opinion in meetings that “we can not continue to put out the same design and fall into the trap that PALM did”. I watched in horror as each new model looked just like the next and even more worrisome was the fact RIM was using inferior material which caused a lot of returns and the software team was being rushed to put out updates to devices that launched with many glitches. I remember when the IPHONE launched and it made a huge impact after the first 6 months to the point we were not even aloud to bring the IPHONE up in meetings anymore. We had to stay positive to a fault and not bring up anything that we saw as a potential risk. I remember when the Storm was about to launch and I was issued a device 3 months before launch date. That is when I knew RIM was sunk. The device was rushed to market with software bugs, poor quality material, poorly put together, that damn clicking screen and this was RIM’s answer to the IPHONE. Did you know that about a year before APPLE launched the IPHONE, that APPLE had a secret meeting with RIM to discuss the use of RIM’s email platform but RIM pushed APPLE out the door. Two years ago we begged all RIM groups to abandon any new software and hook up with GOOGLE and adopt and Android O/S but again we were told that RIM would never use the Android software and RIM would stand alone and WIN (hahahahah). It is not the employees fault at all, we brought up all the issues many years ago but management would never bring them to the Co-CEO’s. The Co-Ceo’s are despised by 99% of the RIM employees for not listening to years of information and market research and instead focusing on hockey teams and pretending that shipping millions of cheap devices with zero innovation was the way to go. Sorry if this rambles and is hard to follow but I am shaking as I write this remembering how good it used to be and watching it all crumble away.

Suki Long79

I commend the RIM employee who sent this letter. I worked for RIM up until last year but left to work in a more productive environment. During my time there I could see much of what this person has written. I heard many times that “innovation” is what was missing and that things aren’t what they used to be. The attitude of some management was that it didn’t matter how much money we spend RIM has lots. Maybe that is why the departments were so focused on continually increasing their headcounts regularly when in some cases there was no work to do. When I see how things are going for RIM today I sit back and think how much money they invest into departments that do not generate any revenue even though they produce product. Streamlining should be a priority of this company.
I can say that there are in some case two or more departments trying to do the same thing and neither willing to work together. There are groups trying to create mini empires but truly have idea what kind of chaos they are causing.
I agree with the writer that there are individuals who work at RIM who underperform in their jobs but instead of being let go they are promoted to higher positions or moved to another department or their managers just look the other way. That is one thing that can definitely bring down morale.I continually follow the downward spiral of RIM and yet I am still a huge fan. I would never want to give up my BlackBerry. I hope they can turn it around before they lose it all and if that happens not only do shareholders lose so does the community and people of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.

Antti Nospam

Anssi Vanjoki is free for CEO.

Choncy21

Rim will be a bankrupt defunct company within the next 2 years. There is no way they can compete they are so far behind apple its sad really

Dukarn

Man! As a former Nortel employee this letter made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! Deja-vu all over again? Nortel mocked Cisco and RIM … Well, read above. There is still time to act. But not much of it.

IPW

I left RIM in frustration 19 months ago, after being there 16 months. I was brought in from the outside to strategize and launch a program that RIM did not presently have in-house and desparately needs. They told me during the recruiting process that my activities were a top priority/mission critical, would be resourced and prioritized as such, and they wanted it launched ASAP. I really felt this would be a career defining job that I could look back on 5 years later and be proud of. Upon arrival, I noted that RIM was hiring all sorts of expertise from other companies (many laid off due to the recession), mostly from large and established financial service companies; many of us had skills in business process, strategic planning, efficiency, etc that RIM was lacking in. I also noted there is a huge divide between the long-term RIM staff who were there when it was a small company and the new arrivals. The old time RIM staff still want to run the company like a small company, and are quite resistant to change and outside ideas. They pay lip service to us newbies, and generally ignore what we are trying to accomplish. This goes all the way up the management tree, and senior managers allow and condone this activity, and practice it themselves. RIM was (when I left) a bloated and inefficient company, clearly not ready for any leveling off in growth or profitability. – Most of the printer/copiers at RIM are colour, and most staff print/copy everything in colour, despite the significant cost difference. There are no restrictions on colour printer/copier use. This would NEVER happen in a big insurance company or a bank; they are well practiced at cost control. – All RIM staff (including temps and students) get a free Blackberry with unrestricted, unlimited everything voice and data service. No one checks on the bills; this must be a rather expensive perk, and very profitable for Rogers. – Large IT vendors run RIM IT – They know what the corporate strategy will be before most staff do, and there is minimal effort to competative bid. RIM takes the easy route and does not hold their vendors accountable or force them to be cost competative. – Lawyers run RIM – they hamstring everythig RIM does. The corporate guideline is to include 6 months in one’s timeline for legal review to complete even simple tasks like purchasing hardware/software, approving a new vendor, launching a project, etc. Never encountered anything like that in my years in Financial Services. – RIM is a massive world-wide high-tech company, with multiple locations and 15,000 employees, yet it still documents, approves, and pays its staff expense reports on paper forms that must be routed via inter-office mail for signature. Takes weeks; thigs get lost in the mail easily. – many of the new hire senior management come fromt he US. However, RIM has them come to Waterloo every week, so if you count travel time, these expensive corporate strategy leaders are only contributing 3 days of effort to the corporate good, as they are in transit Mondays and Fridays. All those plane tickets, hotels and per diems are not helping the bottom line either. I created and documented the top priority strategy and plan I was brought in to do. I presented it to my management, who then presented it up the chain of command. I was told we would be starting iminently, but the resources to get started were never assisgned. 6 months later, my PowerPiont slides were still featured in quarterly division staff meetings and discussed as a top priority. Finally, when I knew I was leaving, I button holed my division AVP and told my story. He was surprised, as he said that it was his impression that the program started months ago and that he wanted more information. Nothing came of the conversation in the following month. I can also say that there are a lot of very bright and gifted people at RIM who have great ideas, but most don’t speak up or share because they know no one will listen, or at best their thoughts will get lip service and be forgotten. I got a management job offer much closer to home , and given the 35,000kms per year of commuting I was doing to and from Waterloo, and the 2 hours I spent behind the wheel daily, quiting was an easy choice. I understand from speaking to people still at RIM (who are equally frustrated) that 2 people have occupied my role since I left, and RIM is no closer to launching the mission critical program or having the capabilities it would provide than when I left. On a side note, while I very much think that Canada needs more NHL teams, I really felt that Jim B’s battle to buy the Phoenix Coyotes really distracted him from his day job at a very critical time and did not shed a positive or flattering light on the company in the eyes of customers and potential customers.

TickingClock

What’s a phone or a pad these days other than a computer. Meaning, it’s a hardware product with an OS supported with application software. And the history in the computing world is there was room for one dominant system, so called “Wintel” amalgamation, and a couple niche operating systems from Apple and Linux. Moving to today in the phone market the dominant player is Apple/iOS/Apple apps and multiple manufacturers/Android/Google apps. That’s one more dominant system that eventually panned out in the personal computing market. Will there be room for 2 or even a 3rd system? History says no, but and even if phones/pads break the mold and the market supports a third infrastructure, will that system be Windows/Nokia or QNX/RIM? It won’t be RIM if the company doesn’t get the app side of the business up and running and it won’t be Microsoft if they don’t get the O/S right.

The battle is not over – Motorola’s first pad has been a disaster – so Android is not always a success, HPs newly introduced Touchpad is DOA (no app support, overweight, oversized, low battery life), so Playbook, though not perfect, has been a very good first attempt, so kudos to all those at RIM who made that happen.

John Ranta

Such a silly letter – 2 years too late. Can you say “closing the barn door after the horse has fled”? Let’s all admit the obvious, Blackberry is dead. RIM is in an industry in which the 3 most important factors are User Interface, User Interface and User Interface. As a user of both iPhone and Android, I can tell you that Blackberry’s UI is terrible and hopeless – which makes Blackberry a distant 3rd place device. RIM is now having to play catchup against two of the most powerful companies in UI – Google and Apple. Neither Apple nor Google will stand still, and Blackberry has so, so far to go. There’s no hope of RIM ever catching up. I could not imagine buying a Blackberry today, not when faced with the choice of either an iPhone or an Android. A year (or two) from now Blackberry will be shuttered, the skeletal IP remains auctioned off to who knows – HP? Google? Nokia? (Nokia is the next to go, on life support themselves). RIM is the Sun Microsystems of cell phones, a one-time industry leader in an inexorable death spiral, brought on by its inability to out-innovate superior competitors…

Fred

The computer industry is brutal. I should have been a farmer; I would have had a lot more job security, money, and peace of mind. And I would be doing something useful.

http://mouthofthesouth.tumblr.com johnathan

“Android has a major weakness — it will always lack the simplicity and elegance that comes with end-to-end device software, middleware and hardware control.”

The criticism of Android that most confounds me is that assertion that Android has an ‘ease of use’ problem. As if it’s developed in such a way that makes people think that it’s trying to be sophisticated but actually just turns out to be confusing.
What is it about iOS that makes it so much easier to use? Is it the fact that every single device is essentially the same as the devices before it? Excepting speed and a camera, what has significantly changed about the device? Nothing, I see how you could find it easier to move from device to device and find the experience “easy”.

“… a product’s technical superiority does not equal desire…”

Really? No, REALLY? I think Android’s success couldn’t disagree with this more. Android takes a lot of crap because it offers some less desirable phones. A cost-conscious friend wanted an Android device but didn’t want to pay out the nose for it. So she got a Samsung (some type in the Galaxy family) on Boost which is on Sprint’s network. It’s nowhere near as good as my Evo 4G. But it’s not terrible and she has unlimited everything like me. The difference is I pay $94/month compared to her $55. Please understand that there are young and poor people who want (and now are able to afford) a smartphone. And I’ll bet they outnumber the more affluent customers.

Nate

Having a culture of fear stifles creativity, and forces young, intelligent and creative people to bow to the will of older, more risk-averse management types at the top. The sad thing is that the board, being made up of older men as well, will think this is good, because they are no longer aware of the danger present in mediocrity. In the Old Economy, mediocre products sold well because all of the competing products were also made to be mediocre. To succeed against risk-taking powerhouses, you must be fleet-footed and you must be willing to field a product you think is good, knowing that it might flop if the feature set you thought was to be in high demand is actually not the demanded feature set.
So, you must speed up development and institute pathways for your creative talent to propagate their ideas up the ladder. You must not stifle criticism, for to do so creates a yes-man culture more suitable in a bank in the 1970s than a tech leader in the 21st century.

Anonymous

lol isn’t this the mantra at every single corporation? everyone has great idea’s but ceo’s etc won’t pay attention while they are still reaping benefits. blackberry might not be top here in usa, but its still growing oddly around the world.